{"id":41683,"date":"2019-02-26T23:22:52","date_gmt":"2019-02-26T17:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/?p=41683"},"modified":"2025-05-05T17:07:43","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T11:37:43","slug":"cro-best-practices-booking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/cro-best-practices-booking\/","title":{"rendered":"[CRO Best Practices] Insights From eCommerce CRO Apex Predators: Booking.com"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/vwo\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/booking_com_illustration-1024x576.png\" alt=\"illustration showcasing what goes behind Booking.com's experimentation labs\" class=\"wp-image-41685\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/vwo\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/booking_com_illustration-1024x576.png?tr=w-1024 1024w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/vwo\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/booking_com_illustration-1024x576.png?tr=w-768 768w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/vwo\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/booking_com_illustration-1024x576.png?tr=w-640 640w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/vwo\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/booking_com_illustration-1024x576.png?tr=w-375 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The following article derives source from Harvard Business Review\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hbs.edu\/faculty\/Pages\/item.aspx?num=55158\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">case study<\/a> about Booking.com\u2019s hallowed experimentation culture.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>1,000 <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/testing\/?utm_source=page&amp;utm_medium=website&amp;utm_campaign=interlinking\">concurrent experiments<\/a>. Tests that can be deployed across 75 countries and 43 languages in <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mindtheproduct.com\/democratising-online-controlled-experiments-at-booking-com-by-lukas-vermeer\/\">under an hour<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/ab-testing\/\">A\/B testing<\/a> covering a span of 1.2 million hotels, homestays, and inns\u2014if ever there was an organization that bleeds CRO from its cultural veins, it must be <a href=\"https:\/\/booking.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Booking.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/conversion-rate-optimization\/#guide-download\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong><em>Download Free: Conversion Rate Optimization Guide<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Having pioneered <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/conversion-rate-optimization\/\">Conversion Rate Optimization<\/a> as a category, most of our e-commerce (and the world, at large) customers naturally pose poignant questions about distilling a <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/build-a-culture-of-experimentation\/\">CRO-centric culture<\/a> in their organizations. More specifically, most questions encountered were about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Culture \u2013 &#8220;<em>How can I reinvent our culture to worship CRO?&#8221;<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Process \u2013 <em>&#8220;Is there a template we can follow?<\/em> Are there any\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/conversion-rate-optimization\/cro-best-practices\/\">CRO best practices<\/a>\u00a0that should be followed?\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Motivation \u2013 <em>&#8220;With 9 out of 10 tests failing, how can we stabilize the morale of our marketing team?&#8221;<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This article answers some of the questions by way of stories gleaned from the study and hopefully inspires your online store to embrace <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/conversion-rate-optimization\/ecommerce-conversion-rate-optimisation\/\">eCommerce CRO<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Booking.com serves as proof that CRO cannot merely serve as a growth lever: CRO has ascended to take the mantle of a fulcrum instead. Below, we summarize key insights from HBR\u2019s comprehensive case study about what makes Booking.com an apex predator in the <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/tools\/cro-experimentation-checklist\/\">experimentation<\/a> food chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Binding the threads together\u2014decentralization,<br>heuristics on failed tests, the flywheel effect, and a steadfast reliance on<br>data.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level1\" data-menu=\"Decentralization\" id=\"decentralization\" data-menu-id=\"decentralization\" style=\"text-align:left\">Decentralization<\/h2>\n\n\n<p>In Booking\u2019s embryonic stage, a key tenet paved the way for much of its currently prevalent experimentation culture &nbsp;\u2013 all employees had the freedom to run an experiment without feeling trapped in the rut of decision-making bureaucracy. They did not have to draft a meeting agenda, defend <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/plan\/hypotheses\/\">hypotheses<\/a> around the test, and answer uncomfortable <a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/derosetichy\/2013\/04\/15\/what-happens-when-a-hippo-runs-your-company\/#2028b10540cf\">HIPPO<\/a> questions about the context for implementing a particular test. There were several direct and indirect benefits of a decentralized outlook toward CRO.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Volume<\/strong>: The collective volume of experiments witnessed an exponential uptick. At the time of writing the case study, Booking reported a frequency of 1,000 concurrent experiments.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Power of compounding<\/strong>: Similar to your average stock market portfolio, Booking was a recipient of windfall gains, owing to the power of compounding by continuously investing in an \u201cinfinite testing loop.\u201d Assuming an industry standard of 10% success rate at an average 1% uplift in revenue per test, the following are some total revenue uplift statistics around various concurrency ranges.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"responsive-table-wrap\"><table class=\"wp-block-table\"><tbody><tr><td>Number of concurrent tests<br><\/td><td>Success Rate<\/td><td>Revenue Uplift Per Test<\/td><td>Number of Successful Tests<\/td><td>Total Revenue Uplift (Revenue Uplift Per Test * Number of Successful Tests)<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>100<\/td><td>10%<\/td><td>1%<\/td><td>10<\/td><td>10%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>500<\/td><td>10%<\/td><td>1%<\/td><td>50<\/td><td>50%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>1000<\/td><td>10%<\/td><td>1%<\/td><td>100<\/td><td>100%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>1500<\/td><td>10%<\/td><td>1%<\/td><td>150<\/td><td>150%<\/td><\/tr><tr><td>2000<\/td><td>10%<\/td><td>1%<\/td><td>200<\/td><td>200%<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>HIPPO takes a backseat<\/strong>: Some leaders tend to believe that their understanding of customers is stronger than employees downstream. Booking humbled many a leader by ensuring that no changes suggested by them were published without an A\/B test proclaiming victory. In fact, their first American CEO was served empirical evidence of Booking\u2019s testing culture when a logo he suggested did not enter production without a test validating its success.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cWhen Booking\u2019s previous CEO first arrived from the US, he presented a redesigned logo to the staff. People said \u201cthat\u2019s great; we\u2019ll check it with an experiment.\u201d He was baffled but had no choice. The experiment would determine if the logo could stay.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n<cite>Excerpt from the study<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level1\" data-menu=\"Investigating Failures: Gold at the Far End of the Rainbow\" id=\"investigating-failures-gold-at-the-far-end-of-the-rainbow\" data-menu-id=\"investigating-failures-gold-at-the-far-end-of-the-rainbow\" style=\"text-align:left\"><strong>Investigating Failures: Gold at the Far End of the Rainbow<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Unlike\na typical CRO environment where failed tests are archived never to be looked\nback again, Booking has a novel lens to view failures. Through a combination of\nheuristics and qualitative data, the experimentation team analyses failed tests\nto unearth more behavioral signals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For example, in one of their many failed experiments, the team tried to analyze the impact on conversions by showcasing \u201cWiFi Signal Strength\u201d for all properties. Their <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/glossary\/hypothesis\/\">hypothesis<\/a> was valid; guests, especially business travelers, prioritize Internet speed as one of their primary booking criteria. The test tried to measure conversion impact by displaying a banner \u201cWiFi Strength \u2013 Strong\u201d on the listing. Much to their surprise, the <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/why-you-fail-ab-tests\/\">test failed<\/a> to deliver a conversion uplift. However, the experimentation team did not stop there. By interviewing consumers in their Research Lab, another fascinating insight stood out\u2014guests wanted to know if the hotel\u2019s WiFi would allow them to watch Netflix or deliver emails without interruption. In scientific parlance, the team approached the problem from the <a href=\"https:\/\/jtbd.info\">Jobs To Be Done<\/a> standpoint. <strong><em>Internet wasn\u2019t important\u2014jobs done through the Internet were<\/em><\/strong>. Almost immediately, the team ran another test; this time with labels like \u201cFast Netflix Streaming.\u201d The new test drove the team back to its winning ways by delivering comprehensive wins against the control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cFor example, we were sure people cared about the quality of WiFi in their hotel rooms. We tested a feature that displayed WiFi speed on a 1\u2013100 scale, and customers did not care. It was only when we showed whether the signal was strong enough to do email or watch Netflix, that customers responded favorably.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level1\" data-menu=\"A\/B Testing: The Flywheel Effect\" id=\"a-b-testing-the-flywheel-effect\" data-menu-id=\"a-b-testing-the-flywheel-effect\" style=\"text-align:left\"><strong>A\/B Testing: The Flywheel Effect<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>On a scale of strategic to tactical, a long tail of companies pit CRO in the middle while the normal distribution of the curve veers toward tactical. We have documented myriad reasons why customers purchase a CRO platform for the first time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>\u201cWe have a <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/infographic-why-your-website-redesign-is-failing\/\">website redesign<\/a> underway. We want to evaluate if visitors can navigate (the new design)\u201d<\/em> &#8211; Midway<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>\u201cWe spent $100,000 on new ad campaigns and visitors aren\u2019t converting!\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Tactical (and reactive!)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>\u201cOur new Chief Product Officer has suggested new versions of in-app nudges. We are not too sure (of them working)\u201d<\/em> \u2013 Tactical (and vengeful!)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Not Booking; it reinvented the playbook. From the day of Booking\u2019s inception, <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/ab-testing\/\">A\/B testing<\/a> has been perceived as the treadmill that introduces a flywheel effect for revenue, as explained below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>Ensure Great Customer Experiences &#8211;&gt; A\/B Testing &#8211;&gt; Improve Product Experience &#8211;&gt; Increase Conversions &#8211;&gt; More Word of Mouth &#8211;&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/roi-of-experimentation\/\">Better ROI on Marketing Campaigns Through Experiments<\/a> &#8211;&gt; More Sellers Willing to Be a Part of the Platform &#8211;&gt; More Inventory at Better Rates &#8211;&gt; Great Customer Experience <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"755\" height=\"512\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/vwo\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/flywheel.png\" alt=\"flow diagram to explain Booking.com's CRO mental model\" class=\"wp-image-41708\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/flywheel.png 755w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/vwo\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/flywheel.png?tr=w-640 640w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/vwo\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/02\/flywheel.png?tr=w-375 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 755px) 100vw, 755px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Booking&#8217;s CRO Mental Model<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/conversion-rate-optimization\/#guide-download\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong><em>Download Free: Conversion Rate Optimization Guid<\/em>e<\/strong><\/span><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n<h2 class=\"js-cro-guide-subheading gtm_heading \" data-level=\"level1\" data-menu=\"In God We Trust, for International Expansion, Bring Data\" id=\"in-god-we-trust-for-international-expansion-bring-data\" data-menu-id=\"in-god-we-trust-for-international-expansion-bring-data\" style=\"text-align:left\"><strong>In God We Trust, for International Expansion, Bring Data<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n<p>Most international expansions are a non-cognitive exercise. After organizations have decided to expand their footprint to international waters, the country\u2019s financial (or political) capital is generally chosen as the headquarters. Quite naturally, when Booking.com announced its arrival in Germany, most analysts and industry watchers expected to meet them in Berlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They were in for a disappointment. Mining troves of customer search data, the team quickly came to an unexpected conclusion\u2014Dutch nationals (Booking originated in Holland) were making a beeline for a Ski hamlet in an obscure, remote hinterland named Winterberg. The revelation came as a surprise, and senior executives who had started hunting for lodging in Berlin had to change plans overnight. <strong>Booking.com chose Winterberg as the face of its German operations. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cWe operated only in Holland when I started. Our country is so small but Dutch people travel abroad quite a lot. To follow demand, we built an international platform, while our competitors in larger countries focused on their home markets. Conventional wisdom suggested to start in Berlin where you expect most Dutch tourists. But we decided to check which city comes up first in customer searches. It turned out to be a village called Winterberg, a ski paradise for the Dutch. So we followed the data and open our first office there\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>***<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Frameworks, mental models, templates\u2014in our yearning for a standardized <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/conversion-rate-optimization\/conversion-rate-optimisation-tools\/\">CRO toolkit<\/a> soaked in proven success, we are guilty of ignoring that templates are akin to DNA; <em>no two can be the same<\/em>. Booking.com embedding an experimentation-centric way of life might have multiple contexts (cultural, founder ideologies, core team principles, and\/or sheer bootstrapping-induced \u201chustle\u201d)\u2014merely replicating the Booking school of thought might lead to an unhealthy disruption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Instead, organizations should strive to document their unique A\/B testing-induced flywheel as a part of an initiation to future <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/interview-conversion-rate-optimization-key-components\/\">CRO programs<\/a>. Booking understood that A\/B testing goes beyond conversions; <a href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/increase-travel-website-bookings\/\">CRO had the potential to shift the travel ecosystem<\/a>. It was a win-win\u2014customers and sellers won collectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How\nwould your A\/B testing flywheel look like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"#free-trial\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/10\/blog-cta-eop@2x-3-1024x360.png\" alt=\"banner highlighting free trial for VWO\" class=\"wp-image-46898\" srcset=\"https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/10\/blog-cta-eop@2x-3-1024x360.png?tr=w-1024 1024w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/10\/blog-cta-eop@2x-3-1024x360.png?tr=w-768 768w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/10\/blog-cta-eop@2x-3-1024x360.png?tr=w-640 640w, https:\/\/static.wingify.com\/gcp\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/10\/blog-cta-eop@2x-3-1024x360.png?tr=w-375 375w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The following article derives source from Harvard Business Review\u2019s case study about Booking.com\u2019s hallowed experimentation culture. 1,000 concurrent experiments. Tests that can be deployed across 75 countries and 43 languages in under an hour. A\/B testing covering a span of 1.2 million hotels, homestays, and inns\u2014if ever there was an organization that bleeds CRO from&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":235,"featured_media":55798,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"post_read_time":7,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1850],"tags":[],"feature":[],"industry-type":[],"product":[10628,10626],"role":[10632],"region":[],"class_list":["post-41683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-conversion-rate-optimization"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Peek Inside Booking.com&#039;s Experimentation &amp; CRO Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"CRO best practices-VWO dives into Booking.com&#039;s experimentation culture and nuances-Your source of credible CRO resources-vwo.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/cro-best-practices-booking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Peek Inside Booking.com&#039;s Experimentation &amp; CRO Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"CRO best practices-VWO dives into Booking.com&#039;s experimentation culture and nuances-Your source of credible CRO resources-vwo.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/vwo.com\/blog\/cro-best-practices-booking\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/vwoofficial\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-02-26T17:52:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta 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